Waves the height of two-storey houses could lash the KwaZulu-Natal coastline from this afternoon as a combination of a low-pressure weather system and a spring tide threatens. Beaches across the province are expected to be closed as shark nets have been removed because of fears they will be damaged by massive swells and rough seas.According to Elizabeth Webster, a forecaster at the SA Weather Service, a cut-off low-pressure system has been moving across the country and is expected to reach KwaZulu-Natal this afternoon. On top of this, the full moon will cause a high spring tide."The combination of these two things could cause a lot of trouble," said Webster.Online forecasting site Windguru has predicted that swells will start to pick up from about 5pm. Waves 3.6m high are expected at first, but they could increase to 4.9m by tonight and 5.7m by tomorrow morning.Swells are expected to reduce to below 2m only by Sunday.Gale-force winds of about 68km/h are expected, with gusts as high as 89km/h possible.In 2007, a similar combination of weather and tides left carnage in its wake. Roads, beachfront restaurants and promenades, houses, hotels, beaches and swathes of land were damaged.Swells then were as big as 7m. Officials said the damage ran to millions of rands.But forecasters say this week's weather, though bad, is unlikely to be as destructive as that experienced eight years ago.Apart from the heavy seas, rain is highly likely across the province, with the cold front also bringing the possibility of snow on the Drakensberg.KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board spokesman Mike Anderson Reade said the organisation had started removing its shark nets from beaches along the length of the coast from Tuesday in anticipation of the bad weather.The last of the nets will be removed today.According to Anderson Reade, the only beach at which nets will still be up is South Beach in Durban, which will be protected from much of the heavy swell."Personally, if I look at the [weather forecast] models they are predicting, they seem a bit over the top. But even if the swells are half the size they're saying, they're still really big," he said.The Sharks Board was removing the nets out of fear they would be damaged by swells and strong currents, but said this would not pose a threat to people "because I don't think people will want to swim in 4m swells anyway", Anderson Reade said."It's our money, it's ratepayer money, so removing the nets is a case of doing something to prevent loss or damage," he said...